by Dianna Hardy
“Being kidnapped by demons?”
“And you! You think I don't know what you would have done to her if you'd known? To me?”
“The needs of the whole must come first.”
“Before even giving Elena's own destiny a chance? You would just read the blurb of her life, assume you know the whole story before it's even played out and to hell with the consequences of your actions?”
“And look where your actions have gotten you.”
“Elena's still alive, and up until Nathaniel decided to throw a Freddy Kruger, relatively happy. If it had been down to you, she'd have been imprisoned from birth.”
“Measures should have been taken—”
“Nothing's happened – the world is still here!”
“Over two hundred people died in a plane crash yesterday!”
“That is not her fault.”
“No, it's yours, damn it! She should have been monitored.”
“I'd rather die than have her become The Council's personal lab rat.”
“That can be arranged!”
The laugh erupted from her throat before she could stop it. Really. Why was she even mildly surprised The Council would dispose of her in a heartbeat?
Oh, I don't know, maybe because my father's a heartless bastard.
Katherine attempted the softest tone of voice she possibly could. “She's your granddaughter – your only grandchild...”
“She doesn't know that.”
“Only at your request. She asked about her grandparents growing up. Have you any idea how difficult it was to make up lies about it all, knowing you tutored her, that she knew you?”
“And yet you've lied to her about her own lineage – to all of us.”
“To keep her safe. My lie put my family first; your lie put work and nonsensical tradition before your own blood.”
“She is not my blood!”
In the stunned pause that followed, Katherine realised that 'heartless bastard' might just be the understatement of the century. “My God, did you really just say that? You're casting her out of the family? She is your blood.”
“Only half of her, and the demon half will take over – it's inevitable.”
“Such faith you have in the strength of your own line,” she scoffed. “Jesus, I was right to hide this from you all these years … and maybe it's a blessing she's never known her relationship to you.”
“I was not going to repeat with Elena the same mistake I made with you. It was best for all that she never knew her grandfather headed up The Council; better for teaching her, better for disciplining her, and better for what I have to do now.”
Katherine's breath caught at the back of her throat and she felt all the blood drain from her face. “What? What are you going to do?”
“For centuries, centuries, we've been working to eliminate demon blood from our kind, to stop our persecution and give us a better name. Her birth should never have come to pass. I have someone conferring with the Dessec.”
This time, the ice that ran through Katherine's veins had nothing to do with her shield of protection. Numbly, she shook her head. “No...”
“We will bend time and erase elements over the past thirty years. You will not meet Darius, he will not be killed, meaning Nathaniel will never take his place as Shanka King, and Elena will never be born.”
“You can't … this is murder.”
“You can't murder what doesn't exist.”
“But—”
“You'll have no memory of events, no knowledge she existed. You'll not be in pain, Katherine.”
“You're not God...”
“The Council are the closest thing to God in this dimension, and we will do what is right.”
Cold fear erased all words from her mind.
“This is non-negotiable, Katherine. We're cleaning up your mistake. We'll need some of your blood to ensure the erasure is successful. You're to come back to the Round Hall with us where you'll take up permanent residence.”
Somewhere amid her numbness, she was talking, thinking and walking, but Katherine was observing it all outside her body, her voice reaching her from very far away. “I'll need to pack more things; give me ten minutes.”
Her father nodded.
Her legs carried her body to the bathroom where she unzipped her bag, slid open the wall cabinet and flung the rest of her toiletries into it. Then, making sure her father was watching, she opened the toilet lid, unzipped her skirt and shut the door. Luckily, relieving herself came easily and she used the fact to buy her some privacy, the loud ringing in her ears giving way to the voice of reason.
Get your head together, Katherine. Get yourself together – and get the fuck OUT of here!
~*~
Teleportation was never easy at the best of times, and Amy found it easier than most. Her natural talent, ever since she could remember, was something akin to shapeshifting – she could make her body weightless, change shape, sometimes solidify, although more often than not, she would remain invisible in her altered form. Dematerialising her body was second nature to her.
Teleporting to the other side of the world, however, was enough to take its toll on even the most powerful of witches and Amy had not been looking forward to this journey to begin with. Such a journey would tire her out, rendering her useless and magically unprotected for at least two hours.
Now as she materialised in Death Valley, USA, she hoped she got the location spell accurate and had landed in the Nevada end, and not the California end … and it's not like there were any signposts.
Stupidly, in her forced rush to get here – Etienne, that Elder, could be so pushy – she'd forgotten to take the time difference into account. She'd dressed light for hot desert weather, not intending to stay for longer than necessary. Unfortunately, it was two in the morning here, pitch black and bloody freezing.
“Shit,” she cursed as she took on form. This little trip was wrong on so many levels. Firstly, her bargaining tool with the Dessec was nothing but The Council's word of virtue – yeah, we all know how well that's going to go down – secondly, she had no idea if she was in the right place, thirdly, and what was bothering her the most, was the very nature of this potential pact: the extermination of Elena Green.
Okay, so supposedly she was here to ensure her erasure from history rather than her extermination, but Amy was damned if she could see the difference. And the truth was, that she kind of liked Elena. The girl was quiet, harbouring your superhero-type powers, but seemingly kind, meek, mild and completely unassuming. She was innocence personified. Fuck it, that girl had been sheltered her entire life, lied to about her very existence, and when the shit hits the fan and the truth comes out, Amy wondered whether she'd curl up and die or make like a bat out of hell.
Innocence personified. And Amy was here to arrange her assassination. Wrong, wrong, wrong. And if she refused? Amy imprisoned by The Council for anything up 'til eternity, because she knew too much. Yeah, the godfather of all the witch covens in the world were a real nice group of people.
With a shiver and a sigh, she looked around and saw nothing but an expanse of black.
There's no way I can stay out here for two hours, I'll freeze to death. She gave herself a little shrug of surrender and chose a direction to go in. Got to keep moving … stay warm. No doubt the Dessec now know a foreigner's in their territory – they'll have to come find me.
She almost hoped they didn't. Although she wasn't sure what would happen if she went back to Etienne with a failed mission. Maybe being eaten by coyotes would be the better deal. The Elder seemed to be taking this whole Elena thing really personally and she had no idea why.
The blast of hot energy hit her from the right, licking at her skin like the heat of a bonfire. Or maybe it was a bonfire, because a spire of flames, reaching up into the night sky, is what she saw when she turned. It grew shorter, filled out and took on the shape of a man, until flesh engulfed flame and a dark God stood in front of her … well, that wa
s her first thought. Realistically, this was probably a Dessec demon, not a God, but still...
Amy let her eyes roam across his shirtless chest and … holy crap – he was wearing nothing but a loin cloth! Mocha coloured skin wrapped around a warrior's body glistened in the dark. Muscles? Check. Tall? Check. Handsome? Double check.
With a mental scolding, she shook her head – this was so not why she was here.
“You have entered Dessec territory, witch.”
Well, duh.
“Yes, I seek the Dessec. I bring a proposition from The Council.”
The demon's eyes flickered yellow like a cat's and Amy almost melted on the spot. Jesus Christ, did all Dessec demons look like this? Those eyes were wild.
He strode towards her and it was all she could do not to bolt. She was vaguely aware of her legs shaking.
“You're shivering,” he stated in that baritone voice of his.
“What? Oh, yeah...” In fact, her legs weren't trembling from lust – she was actually shaking uncontrollably from the cold.
“Are you human?”
“Yes.”
“Then you'll become ill out here.”
“I forgot my clothes … I mean, my warm clothes.”
Amy, get a grip, you're talking gibberish.
He nodded. “It's hard to teleport with too many material items.”
All at once his body started to glow, that fire reigniting on his skin, smaller flames this time, like on a log fire. He took her arm and pulled her towards him.
“Stay close to me. I will keep you warm.”
Amy inhaled sharply. If she was going to die out here, it wasn't going to be from the cold.
~*~
Katherine materialised in Elena and Karl's kitchen, the book she had pulled from her overnight bag, clutched tightly in her hand.
“Hello?” she called out, but knew she must have just missed them, even as the word left her mouth. Damn.
She'd have to be quick. As soon as her father discovered she'd gone, he'd be here in an instant. She had no idea what a spell to erase history entailed – she'd never had reason to look it up – but she hoped nothing could happen without her blood … at least not right away.
Hurriedly, she scanned the flat for a place to leave the book. Elena had to find it, but it was imperative her father did not. Running upstairs, she had the sense that time was nipping her heels – ten, nine, eight…
He's knocking on the bathroom door. She rushed into Elena's bedroom…
Seven, six, five…
He's throwing open the door. She looked around, frantically – not the drawers, he'd look in the drawers…
Four, three, two...
He knows I'm gone – he knows where I am! She shoved the book inside Elena's pillowcase, making sure it was sandwiched between the pillow and the bed so the outline could not be seen, hoping to God that if the bed was searched, he'd look under the pillow and not at it...
One...
The 'thunk' of materialisation sounded downstairs, and Katherine disappeared.
Chapter Seven
The best thing about working at Ancient Ways, was that she owned it and could decide how to run it – it was her baby, and she'd always thought of it as the substitute baby she would never have. Today, however, was different. Today, the best thing about working at Ancient Ways, was that Karl worked in Royal Treasures, the antique shop just across the road, and their usual lunch date, which was normally casual, would now mean so much more.
Elena failed miserably in hiding the beaming smile that graced her features as she opened her new age shop. Pagan in theme, it was like most other new age shops across the country, with a healing clinic upstairs where various therapies were practised. Elena, herself, offered spiritual and crystal healing. Of course, no one knew she could actually heal someone in the manner that she could, so on a daily basis, she held back her powers, only letting the tiniest amount of that energy trickle into her clients' auric fields as she worked on them. They went away feeling better and none the wiser, and Elena felt she was making a difference without exposing herself or her lineage.
Like Elena, Karl also owned his shop. In fact, he had taken the leap into retail first instead of attending university, fuelled by a desire to keep busy and start earning money straight away, rather than end up like his ill-fated family. He had always had a love for antiques, and an uncanny ability to know their history; that coupled with his determination had him studying everything he could about the subject, and attending every antiques fair and auction that he could get into. All the while, he worked in the sales department of a mobile phone company, striving for the bonuses that would help him realise his passion. A year later, having scrupulously saved, and gleaned all the knowledge he could, an antiques shop in South Kensington practically fell into his lap. The owners had gone bankrupt, and the shop was all but being given away, complete with stock. With the economy taking a downward turn, and the antiques industry growing too competitive in the current climate, no one would touch it with a barge pole. Karl bought the business for £1 and invested the money he'd saved into pulling it out of debt. He turned the entire shop around by giving it a niche: the British monarchy. Coins, stamps, postcards, letterheads, Tudor furniture … if it had anything to do with British royalty, he housed it. A new store name, a re-designed interior, and a busy internet presence complete with an active blog, had tourists flocking to Royal Treasures to buy something unique. Five years on, Karl had just started to make a handsome profit.
And it was Karl who had told Elena last year about the gift shop across the road that had just closed down. Bored of her mundane office job reviewing articles for a prestigious and stuffy magazine publication – not where she thought she'd end up after her Psychology degree – she was ready for the challenge of something new. She bought the shop, set it up with Karl's help, and never looked back.
God, she thought, still grinning from ear to ear, we really are like an old married couple!
The bell above the door tinkled, and her assistant manager walked in.
“Hey, Elena.”
“Hi, Mary.”
Mary stopped in her tracks and eyed her suspiciously. “Something's different about you … did you cut your hair?”
“No … wait – it's not blue is it?” She hurriedly ran her fingers through it.
“Nope – still that gorgeous, rich brown it always was … blue?”
“Nevermind.”
Mary made her way to the staff room at the back, her voice echoing through the corridor. “So, what gives?”
“I don't know what you mean.”
“Liar.”
“Erm … less of that, thank you – I am still your boss.”
“And if you were anyone else, I would not be saying such things, but you're the best, nicest boss I've ever had, and I know something's up.” Mary's head poked around the door, flashing a cheeky grin. “Did you get some last night?”
“What?! Mary!”
“You did, didn't you! I can tell – you look all glowy.”
“Glowy?” She looked down at herself to make sure she wasn't actually glowing.
“Yes, you're positively beaming, and it's about fucking time you had a boyfriend.”
Elena rolled her eyes, but her smile widened.
“Who is it?” asked Mary, refreshed and bouncing around the corner, her own blue-black hair bobbing up and down with every step. “Do I know him?”
Before she could stop herself, Elena's eyes flitted over to the shop across the road. The reaction did not go unnoticed.
“Oh, my God! Karl – it's Karl!”
“Mary, sshhh...”
“It is, isn't it?”
“Well … yes...”
Mary squealed like a four year old and wrapped her arms around Elena. “It's about fucking time!”
“You already said that, and stop swearing – people might hear you.”
“You two are so perfect for each other; I can't believe it's taken this lo
ng for you to finally get together – he's been in love with you since, like, forever.”
“I know, I know, but you don't need to make a big deal out of it, okay?”
“Hey, you're the one with an invisible coat hanger in your mouth.”
“Mary!”
“All right! I'll stop...”
But Elena found herself embraced in another bear hug.
Mary pulled back just enough to look at her with those piercing blue eyes that always seemed like they held a millennium of knowledge.
“Elena, I mean it, I'm so happy for you two. I mean, I don't know guys your age that are like you – you both act like you're an old couple most of the time – and if you were anyone else, I'd say, 'get a life, already', but you're both the nicest, most together people I've ever known and you're supposed to be together.”
With a laugh, Elena disentangled herself from the woman's arms. It never ceased to amaze her how Mary was three years her senior, yet acted as if she was a teenager on a permanent hit of Red Bull. “Thank you, I think. Anyway … how are you? You sleeping better?”
“Not really,” she replied, with a shrug. “It's cool. It's just a phase – it'll pass.”
“Normally, I'd agree, but your dreams are … shall we say, like scenes from a horror movie?”
Mary laughed. “Yep, that about sums it up. But I've had weird dreams before – okay, nothing this bad – but still, they're just dreams. I doubt they're prophetic … if they are, I pity the poor sods that star in them...”
The door bell rang again as their first customer of the day walked in, and Monday began.
~*~
Amy was walking through Death Valley – only, she wasn't really walking, she was sort of floating … literally. The Dessec demon, whose name she had learnt was Pueblo, had an arm wrapped around her shoulder in what could only be termed a possessive embrace, as he led her to his … she wasn't exactly sure where he was leading her. She assumed it was his village, or headquarters, or something. And they were moving at a pace she couldn't walk at. When she looked down at her feet, they were imitating walking, but she couldn't feel the sand beneath her feet.
